- Teachers and parents are urged to prioritise curiosity, individual pace and creativity over rote memorisation.
- Stakeholders have emphasised the need for supportive, pressure-free environments to help children thrive under CBE.
As Kenya continues implementing the Competency-Based Education (CBE) system, education commentators say the life of Albert Einstein, popularly remembered as a student once dismissed by his teachers as slow, offers valuable lessons for parents and educators navigating the new curriculum.
Proponents of the comparison argue that CBE, unlike traditional rote-based learning, is not about memorising facts to pass examinations but about identifying and nurturing the unique talents, skills and competencies in every child. This, they say, mirrors what Einstein stood for throughout his life.
He is widely quoted as saying he had no special talent but was “only passionately curious.” Teachers and parents are being urged to move away from forcing children to memorise notes and instead allow them to ask why and how things happen, since curiosity-driven learning tends to be retained longer than cramming.
Einstein’s life also illustrates that every child learns at their own pace. Though he reportedly struggled with languages and spoke later than most children, he excelled in imagination and scientific reasoning. CBE is built around this same principle: that children differ in their strengths, with some excelling in numbers, others in art, sport or storytelling. Education experts say parents and teachers should avoid comparing children or labelling slower learners as failures, and instead exercise patience as each child discovers their own strengths.
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Failure, too, is presented as a necessary part of learning. Einstein is remembered for saying that a person who never made a mistake never tried anything new. Education advocates argue that many homes and schools in Kenya still punish children harshly for failure, undermining their confidence.
CBE’s emphasis on project-based and practical assessment, they say, allows children to learn by doing and by correcting their own mistakes, rather than fearing punishment.
Imagination, according to the same reasoning, is more important than rote knowledge, a principle that aligns with CBE’s focus on creativity, critical thinking and problem-solving. Teachers are encouraged to incorporate stories, games, experiments and real-life examples into lessons rather than relying solely on lecture-style teaching, while parents are urged to give children time to play, draw, build and create at home instead of keeping them constantly occupied with books.
Finally, supportive environments are cited as central to unlocking a child’s potential. Advocates argue that no child can thrive in an atmosphere of insults, punishment or excessive pressure, and that both teachers and parents have a responsibility to provide encouragement and emotional safety. A child who feels valued at home and in school, they say, is more likely to engage meaningfully with learning.
Beyond flowers, teachers deserve lasting recognition
Education stakeholders say that for CBE to succeed in Kenya, teachers and parents will need to nurture curiosity, respect individual learning pace, allow room for failure, encourage imagination and foster supportive environments to raise not just exam-passers, but thinkers, creators and problem-solvers.
By Enock Okong’o
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